LONDON HOUSE

[2015]

A Beautiful House (Competition) A house must be tied to memory and experience to be called a home. We fondly remember places, family, innocence, and discovery as benchmark moments in our lives. A beautiful house cannot therefore be simply tied to taste. It must be a vessel of human relationships and the enabler of meaningful experiences beyond a sensory form. A private courtyard is at the center of our proposal. Four volumes around the courtyard correspond to functions of the home; access, social activity, privacy, and leisure. They are elemental stones that anchor peace, place, and tranquility around the home. Beauty is inexorably tied to nature. Light, seasons, colors, smells, sounds, and textures are all aesthetic experiences. Our house plan opens in all directions to embrace that idea. Architecturally, our proposal draws direct reference to the vernacular sensibility of the place. Design is ultimately about empathy. Our proposal for a beautiful house is thus and simply an effort to relate. And beauty, through this house, should be an experience for all to relate. Excerpt from competition text